Nets Ink Trevor Booker
JULY 8th, 4:27pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
3:24pm: Booker’s deal is for two years and $18MM, per Jones (on Twitter).
JULY 2nd, 3:01pm: The Nets and unrestricted free agent Trevor Booker have reached an agreement on a contract, Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune reports (via Twitter). The length and terms of the arrangement are not yet known. Brooklyn apparently pivoted to Booker when negotiations with Marvin Williams fell through, with Williams looking more and more like he will be making his return to the Hornets next season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link).
Brooklyn continues to add veteran pieces and Booker will join Jeremy Lin and Justin Hamilton, whom GM Sean Marks previously came to agreements with, on a revamped Nets squad. Booker was reportedly drawing interest from multiple unnamed teams.
Booker, 28, appeared in 79 games for the Jazz last season and averaged 5.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 20.7 minutes per outing. His slash line was .490/.293/.670.
Cap Notes: Lakers, Zubac, Crabbe, Lin, Nets
In the past, NBA teams have often kept free agents’ rights on their books long after those players have retired — teams that never went below the cap had no reason to renounce those players, since their cap holds often helped teams avoid losing trade exceptions and full mid-level exceptions. However, with the salary cap jumping to $94MM+ this season, only a few teams have avoided going below the cap, which means more and more of those free agents who have retired or been out of the NBA for multiple seasons are being renounced.
As Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (via Twitter), the Nets did just that this week with players – or former players – like Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Collins, and Andray Blatche, renouncing those cap holds to help clear cap room.
Here are a few more cap-related notes and updates from around the NBA:
- The Lakers renounced a notable free agent of their own, officially removing Kobe Bryant from their books, per RealGM.com. Bryant had a maximum-salary cap hold following his final NBA season, so Los Angeles had little choice but to renounce it if the team wanted to make use of its cap room.
- Lakers second-round pick Ivica Zubac got two guaranteed seasons on his three-year deal, per Pincus, who tweets that Zubac will earn salaries worth $1.03MM, $1.08MM, and $1.13MM, respectively.
- Allen Crabbe‘s offer sheet with the Nets is worth $18.5MM in its first, second, and fourth years, with a third-year salary of $19.3MM, according to Pincus (Twitter links). The deal, which the Trail Blazers could match, also has a fourth-year player option, a 15% trade kicker, and “significant payment advances.”
- Pincus also provides the details on Jeremy Lin‘s new contract with the Nets, tweeting that it features a third-year player option, a 10% trade kicker, and $2.3MM in unlikely bonuses on top of the $36MM base value.
- We’ll be updating our full list of traded player exceptions soon, once all of the recently-reported trades become official, but we can expect many of the TPEs on that list to disappear. As Bobby Marks of The Vertical tweets, the Cavaliers, Thunder, and Clippers may end up being the only teams with trade exceptions when the dust settles.
Allen Crabbe Signs Offer Sheet With Nets
JULY 7th, 10:14pm: Crabbe has signed an offer sheet with the Nets worth $75MM over four years, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). There are performance bonuses included that can up the value of the agreement to $83MM, the scribe adds.
6:47pm: The offer to Crabbe is being refuted, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. Crabbe will meet with the Nets on Tuesday to discuss a contract, but apparently no offer has been made.
JULY 3rd, 6:22pm: Allen Crabbe will receive a four-year, $70MM offer sheet from the Nets, tweets international journalist David Pick. He adds that Portland doesn’t plan to match the offer for the restricted free agent.
The third-year shooting guard had a breakthrough season this year as a Trail Blazers reserve. He appeared in 81 games and averaged 10.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per night while shooting 39% from beyond the arc.
It has been a busy three days for the Nets who have also added Jeremy Lin, Justin Hamilton and Trevor Booker, while making a $50MM offer to Tyler Johnson.
Lakers Acquire Jose Calderon
JULY 7th, 8:07pm: The trade is official, the Bulls announced via press release.
JULY 6th, 9:22pm: The Lakers and Bulls have agreed to a trade that will send Jose Calderon to Los Angeles, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). It’s unknown what Chicago is receiving in return, though with the team looking to clear cap room, it’s not likely to be a player.
Chicago had acquired Calderon as part of the Derrick Rose trade with New York and needed to clear his cap hit in order to ink Dwyane Wade, who has reportedly agreed to a deal with the team. Also being shipped out of Chicago tonight is Mike Dunleavy. The Nets were close to acquiring Calderon before Los Angeles swooped in, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
Calderon appeared in 72 games for the Knicks this past season and averaged 7.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 28.1 minutes per outing. His slash line was .459/.414/.875.
Nets Sign Jeremy Lin
JULY 7th, 4:04pm: The deal is official, Brooklyn announced in a press release.
9:18am: The third year is a player option, Wojnarowski tweets.
JULY 1st, 9:08am: The Nets are closing in on a multiyear deal with unrestricted free agent Jeremy Lin, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (on Twitter). The pact will be for three-years and $36MM, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Lin confirmed he is heading to the Nets via his personal Twitter account.
Lin will reunite with coach Kenny Atkinson, who was an assistant with the Knicks when “Linsanity” broke out during the 2011/12 season. The point guard has failed to recapture the magic of that time since departing New York, but has remained a productive player the past few seasons. It remains to be seen if pairing up with Atkinson will boost Lin’s numbers, but regardless, they land a solid contributor at a position of need.
The 27-year-old appeared in 78 games for the Hornets last season, including 13 starts. He notched averages of 11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 26.3 minutes per outing. Lin’s slash line on the campaign was .412/.336/.815.
Hawks Re-Sign Kent Bazemore
JULY 7: The Hawks have sent out a formal press release announcing their new deal with Bazemore.
JULY 1: The Hawks have secured one of their own free agents, according to Michael Scotto of The Associated Press, who reports (via Twitter) that Atlanta and Kent Bazemore have agreed to terms on a four-year, $70MM contract, which will feature a player option on the final year.
It’s the second big-money deal the team has struck today — the Hawks also reached an agreement with Dwight Howard on a three-year contract worth $70.5MM. The two deals for Bazemore and Howard will almost certainly take Atlanta out of the running for Al Horford, meaning he’ll likely find a new home within the next few days.
Bazemore, who went undrafted out of Old Dominion, emerged as a reliable three-and-D player for the Hawks last season, averaging 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 35.7% from beyond the arc.
We heard early in free agency that it might take an offer in the $19-20MM-per-year range to land Bazemore, and the Hawks will ultimately pay a little less than that — his reported deal averages $17.5MM annually. According to David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter), Bazemore turned down four-year, $72MM offers from the Lakers and Rockets to return to Atlanta.
In addition to Los Angeles and Houston, the Bucks, Grizzlies, Nets, and Pelicans were among the rival suitors for Bazemore, and were in touch with him before he made his decision, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. There had been speculation that Bazemore would take a few days before deciding on his team — instead, he agreed to a contract with the Hawks on the day of his 27th birthday. Not a bad gift.
The value of Bazemore’s new deal is right in line with the four-year, $70MM deal agreed to by Evan Turner and the Trail Blazers earlier today.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pacers Acquire Thaddeus Young From Nets
JULY 7: The swap sending Young to the Pacers in exchange for the rights to No. 20 overall pick Caris LeVert and a future second-round pick is now official, according to a Nets press release.
JUNE 23: The Pacers have agreed to acquire Thaddeus Young from the Nets in exchange for the No. 20 overall pick in tonight’s NBA draft and a future protected second-rounder, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (on Twitter). The scribe had reported earlier that several Western Conference teams had been aggressively pursuing Young, who Brooklyn was looking to deal to the highest bidder in an effort to land a first round pick, which it nabbed from Indiana in the swap.
This is the second big move by Indiana in the past two days, with the team landing point guard Jeff Teague from Atlanta in a three-team trade on Wednesday. It certainly appears that team executive Larry Bird is serious about retooling his squad for new coach Nate McMillan.
For Brooklyn, flipping Young for a first-rounder clearly signals that the franchise is shifting into full-rebuild mode. Given the Nets’ lack of talent, it is a bit puzzling why they would give up on Young, who is under contract for three more seasons at a fairly reasonable rate. Young, 28, is slated to earn $12,078,652 next season, $12,921,348 in 2017/18 and $13,764,045 the final year.
In 73 appearances for Brooklyn this past season, Young averaged 15.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 33.0 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .514/.233/.644.
Tyler Johnson Signs Offer Sheet With Nets
JULY 7TH, 1:20am: Johnson has signed the offer sheet, Wojnarowski tweets. Miami will have three days to match Brooklyn’s offer.
JULY 3RD, 11:18am: The Nets will extend a $50MM offer sheet to Miami restricted free agent guard Tyler Johnson, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The four-year offer, which Johnson has agreed to sign, has a player option for the final season, tweets TNT’s David Aldridge.
Miami will have three days to decide whether to match the offer once Johnson signs it, which can happen as soon as the moratorium is lifted on Thursday. The deal is heavily backloaded, tweets Miami-based capologist Albert Nahmad, with Johnson receiving $5.628MM in the first season and $5,881,260 in the second, followed by $18,858,765 in season three and $19,631,975 in season four.
The Heat’s decision on Johnson will be heavily influenced by what happens with Kevin Durant, who is meeting with Miami officials today, and Dwyane Wade, who is reportedly talking to other teams after being unhappy with the Heat’s initial offer. If Miami matches Brooklyn’s offer, its cap hit will be equal to Johnson’s yearly salary, Nahmad tweets. If he goes to Brooklyn, the Nets will have a $12.5MM cap hit each year.
Nets Rescind Markel Brown’s Qualifying Offer
The Nets have rescinded their qualifying offer for Markel Brown, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). The move comes with only about 10 hours until the July moratorium ends, meaning Brown will be free to sign a contract with any team tomorrow.
Brown, 24, has spent the last two seasons in Brooklyn, averaging 5.3 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.2 APG in his 109 total contests with the club. He played sparingly during the 2015/16 season until after Lionel Hollins was dismissed as the Nets’ head coach, and saw his minutes – and his production – increase down the stretch. In his final 30 games of the season, Brown averaged 9.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.1 APG, and shot .438/.358/.758, a significant improvement on his career marks.
The Nets will still have Early Bird rights if they want to retain Brown, but won’t have the right of first refusal if he decides to sign elsewhere.
Nets Announce 2016/17 Staff
- The Nets officially announced their coaching staff for the 2016/17 season. Joining new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s staff as assistant coaches are Jacque Vaughn, Chris Fleming and Bret Brielmaier, Adam Harrington as assistant coach and director of player development, Jordan Ott as assistant coach and manager of advance scouting and Mike Batiste as player development assistant.